The Final Bells Toll for Disney's Hunchback Show

by Kenny Cottrell
Guest Columnist

Feature Article

This article appeared in the
October 15, 2002, Issue #160 of ALL EARS®
(ISSN: 1533-0753)

It was definitely a sad moment for me when I learned that
Saturday, September 28, 2002, would mark the last performance of
Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame -- A Musical Adventure, at the
Disney-MGM Studios. When I heard that, I knew that I would make
sure I saw the last day of shows.

In fact, I have followed the Hunchback show since its inception
at the Studios. I had made a point of seeing the last performance
of the show's Backlot Theater predecessor, Spirit of Pocahontas,
in 1996, so I *had* to see the first performance of Hunchback. I
was an extremely happy camper on that day, June 21, 1996, when my
all-time favorite female WDW entertainer opened the show as
Esmeralda. (To this day no one has been able to quite match her
singing voice.) I became very familiar with the cast and saw many
shows, quite a few changes in cast (usually in the gypsies, but
some in the principal roles) and lots of Matt the Juggler, who
provided the warm-up, or pre-show, act.

During the spring and summer of this year, I made Hunchback a
regular stop on my "things to see while at Walt Disney World"
list. This was partially because I've been on a live WDW
entertainment kick for the last year, seeking out entertainers
I've seen in other live WDW shows, such as the Kids of the
Kingdom and the Pleasure Island Explosion Dancers.

One recent Wednesday night during an online chat among Disney
fans, a group of folks were discussing Hunchback's upcoming
finale. A friend of mine named Donna found out I was planning to
see all four of the Hunchback's last-day shows. She had already
made her arrangements to fly down to WDW for that weekend to do
the same thing. When she learned of my plans, she asked if she
could join me. I told Donna I would arrive at the Disney-MGM
Studios that day about 10 a.m. (the first show was at noon) so
that I could be in line by 11 a.m. -- she would find me there.

On September 28, I reached the Studios a little before 10 a.m. I
had enough time for one ride on the Rock'n'Roller Coaster before
I headed over to the Backlot Theater to see if anything was going
on there. I wasn't necessarily expecting anyone to be in line
yet, but I wasn't going to be surprised, either. Well, as I
turned off New York Street and headed toward the Backlot Theater,
I found a line already forming. It wasn't too long, only about 10
people, but I decided it was time for me to get in line, too.

On the previous Wednesday, there had been some folks, myself
included, who had been to all four of shows of the day, and one
of the men, Len, was already in line with a friend of his. Also
in line were a small girl dressed up as a gypsy (she was first),
then two girls who had made shirts from pictures they had taken
with the Cast, two more mother/daughter teams, and a young
married couple I lost track of. None of us really introduced
ourselves -- I already recognized most everyone in line anyway.
Now, does that tell you that I've seen too many of these shows?

Sarah and a friend arrived shortly after I did. She was part of
the Wednesday crew, and I had known she would be there for the
last day, too. When Karen, Kyle and Rande appeared, they headed
to the front of the line and gave us two books that would be
given to two actors who played Quasimodo -- we could sign them
and give them best wishes if we wanted to. We passed the books
around during the first two shows and filled them up quite a bit.
They also had brought some signs they'd made to hold up during
the performances.

We joked about the line as it grew and grew and grew. The greeter
Cast Members had to figure out how to deal with getting the
extensions and ropes out to help control the ever-lengthening
queue. And we started to wonder right then what the final show
was going to be like.

The stage managers and greeters were very nice and let us in
earlier than they normally did. They did this for all four shows,
in fact, and it was much appreciated. Each Guest had his or her
own mission, so we all scattered to get our favorite seats --
with a lot of us trying to get the aisle seats next to the runway
part of the stage. Donna didn't really care where we sat, so I
guided us to a runway aisle seat on house right. (Over the course
of the day, we actually sat three times on house right and once
on house left.) We all did a pretty good job of not stepping on
any others' toes, as far as getting someone's *favorite* seat.

It was finally time for Matt's first preshow of the day. I really
think he was surprised at the crowd reaction, but he accepted it
quickly. The audience gave him thunderous applause as he came out
on stage. As the day went on, the opening applause got longer and
longer, and he always graciously accepted it all. He joked as he
noticed that the Guests in the floor seats were reacting
differently than those in the bleachers: "The bleacher section
has no clue what is going on."

With so many devoted fans in the audience, Matt had a lot of
"help" with his show. As he introduced "The Diablo", a Chinese
toy with a Spanish name, he told us, as he always had during
every performance, that with the help of his Spanish classes he
knew that it meant... "this thing." The crowd of fans yelled it
out in unison with him!

And that set the mood for the last day of performances of The
Hunchback of Notre Dame, a Musical Adventure.

After a standing ovation for Matt's pre-show, the traditional
"stand clear of the runway" announcement was given, then
backstage I could see the signals: red light, yellow light, green
light, and it was show time. The four-member gypsy troupe entered
from the back of the theater to thunderous applause.

The adrenaline was running high amongst the Cast Members, the
audience was stoked, and the combination of the two really pumped
up the Cast's performance. The singing was top-notch, and the
dancers hit their cues seemingly flawlessly. After the first show
was over, without any hesitation and without second thought, the
standing-room only audience gave a standing ovation. The Cast was
clearly appreciative and had a hard time controlling their
emotions. And this was only the first show of the day.

After the show, Donna leaned over and asked me if I thought the
cast was putting more into it, if the show was better than usual.
I told her, "It always is," since it's been my experience that
the last, as well as the first, performances of any show are
always more high-energy than others.

One show down, three more to go, and it was time for lunch. I
held our place in line while Donna went off for pizzas. As we ate
them, I noticed, along with our fellow theater-goer Casper, that
there was a sort of "meet and greet" after the show. We weren't
sure who it was for, but we could see it was going on.

As we ate lunch, I began to think about how the end of this show
was going to affect me. One of the habits I have when watching
live entertainment is kind of putting myself into the cast by
figuring out which Cast Member I would like to be. It isn't that
I am picking a character to play, but figuring out which Cast
Member seems to have a personality that closely matches my own. I
know... it's strange, but it's something I've done since I was a
child, along with always making eye contact with the cast.

Because of these habits, I had developed a favorite gypsy to
watch. He was kind of a "swing" gypsy in that he knew almost all
of the gypsy roles. (Of the 13 gypsy roles, three were female
only, nine were male only and one was played by either a male or
a female.) At one point I figured I had seen my favorite gypsy in
eight of the 10 roles. And even one show in the spring he played
Hugo, which was a surprise for me. I always liked him in the role
of one of the two goat handlers -- his facial expressions when he
did that part were always amazing.

During that last day, we had noticed that each show had slight
cast changes, giving as many members of the cast a chance to
perform. (In the past, the gypsies usually played the same role
for the first two shows, then some would switch roles for the
last two shows.)

That day, my favorite gypsy played three different roles,
including one of the goat handler parts. Up until the Wednesday
shows, I hadn't thought that the last day was going to affect me
much. But during the standing ovation for the last Wednesday
show, there I was, watching the cast, seeing them start to get
emotional, including my favorite gypsy. I knew then that if he
lost control during the last day of shows, it would be hard for
me not to lose it myself.

Another preshow, another show. Two shows down, two to go, back in
line for the third show. We were getting pretty good at this,
although those of us waiting for the next show had determined
that we were just competing against each other for line
positions. The queue got longer earlier with each succeeding show
and we continued to speculate as to what the last show was going
to be like.

Casper noticed again that someone was holding a "meet and greet"
in between shows. We saw that it wasn't for specific people, but
for whomever stayed after the show. After we were seated for that
third show, I ran to the restroom. On my way back into the
Theater, I realized that some of the regulars were forfeiting
their seats to stay in line, so they could be first in for the
final show.

Another preshow, another show. Three shows down, one to go.

Now was the time to figure out the strategy for the last show.
Casper wanted to do the meet and greet, Donna wanted to run to
the restroom and I was confused as to what should be the
priority: the meet and greet, the line... what?

Eventually, Casper and Len stayed for the meet and greet, Donna
went to the restroom, and I decided to get in line. We were the
furthest back in the line that we had been all day. I kept a
lookout for Donna and tried to see where Casper and Len ended up.
Not until we were let in did I find them (and Rande, Kyle and
Karen). They all had gotten their usual aisle seats on the
runway, but Donna and I couldn't. I didn't mind too much, but I
was confused how the others had managed to get such good seats.
Not until after the show did I learn that those who had stayed
for the third meet and greet were allowed to stay in the theater
and were seated first. I could have hit myself for knowing too
much and over-analyzing the situation. Most times it does benefit
me, but this once I didn't really know what the outcome was going
to be.

Finally, it was time for Matt's final preshow. This time, it
*started* with a standing ovation, and the applause lasted quite
a while. Matt must have known that we were going to do this, and
he graciously took all the applause. He had made each show that
day a little different, as he could tell that a larger than
normal part of the crowd was returning to every show. And of
course, he received another standing ovation at the end of his
performance. After more than six years of performing more than
6,000 shows, Matt the Juggler ended his run at the Backlot
Theater on a very positive high note.

A standing-room only theater, a final runway announcement, a
final red light followed by a final yellow light followed by the
final green light. The doors swung open, the gypsy troupe started
the Final Show.

The cast and audience was pumped up more than ever before. The
theater echoed with applause, and even more applause followed
every singing number. We don't know what it was like backstage
between shows that day, but I'm sure the Cast Members must have
been letting their emotions go. But, amazingly, they managed to
control themselves during the final performance. Rande held up
the signs she'd brought to tell the Cast how much their shows had
been enjoyed and appreciated. I could see in the Cast Members'
faces that they appreciated the gesture, especially during this
last show. And, as they had for all the shows that day, they put
everything they could into the Final Show.

As they finished, they were met with another standing ovation.
The crowd was rowdy and some folks even stood on their seats for
the ovation. The applause lasted long enough for a curtain call
from the Cast. It was great and made for a great ending.

Afterwards, the Cast held one more meet and greet for the fans --
Matt even came out -- and Donna wanted her picture taken with the
principals. We all made our way out of the theater, and for one
last time Len, Casper, Donna Rande, Kyle, Karen and I got
together. Someone (Casper, if I recall correctly) wanted a photo
of us all. Donna took the first picture, and then someone nearby
volunteered to take a picture of all of us. Of course, then all
the cameras came out! As one final tribute to the cast and show,
Rande took the signs she had brought and carefully placed them
around the sign of the theater. I asked Donna to take a picture
of Rande, Kyle, and Karen walking away from the signs.

After bidding a few Cast Members good luck as they walked to
their farewell dinner, we all went our separate ways, but we've
managed to stay in touch. It turned out that Rande and Karen read
the rec.arts.disney.parks newsgroup, too -- a connection we
didn't know we had until after we all returned home. And I've
tracked Casper down to give him a video that Karen and Rande made
for us.

It's been more than two weeks now since the last performance of
Hunchback. After a few viewings, I've realized that the Beauty
and the Beast show at the Studios is not going to replace
Hunchback on my "favorites" list.

Though the Cast and Crew have been placed in many other positions
and roles by now, I've only run into one so far. Just this last
Saturday, I saw one of Hunchback's long-time greeter Cast Members
working at Who Wants to Be a Millionaire - Play It! I told her
that I thought she looked much better in green (her former
costume color) than blue (her new costume). She agreed -- she,
like me and many others, is going to miss the Hunchback show.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Karen adds:

If you are disappointed in the closing of Disney's The Hunchback
of Notre Dame, A Musical Adventure show which was performed at
Disney MGM Studio's Backlot Theater from June 1996 - September
2002, we urge you to voice your feelings to Disney without
hesitation. Our only request is that you keep your message in a
"positive" Disney nature.